Henry David Thoreau (1816 - 1865)
Concord, Massachusetts, United States

"He was bred to no profession; he never married; he lived alone; he never went to church; he never voted; he refused to pay a tax to the state; he ate no flesh; he drank no wine; he never knew the use of tobacco; and, though a naturalist, he used neither trap nor gun."
- Emerson

Henry David Thoreau was the epitome of New England Transcendentalism. After graduating from Harvard University, Thoreau lived with Emerson and his family. It was there that he considered a wholesome devotion to writing. In 1847, restlessness led him to live a life of exclusion at Walden Pond where he supported himself on the basis of what nature had to offer. It was at Walden that he started his A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. At the time, the Mexican War was occurring, and Thoreau rebelled against it by refusing to pay poll taxes. Due to this, Thoreau was forced to spend a night in jail; from that "Civil Disobedience" was created.

Works

1837 Walden
1849 A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, "Civil Disobedience"
1863 Excursions
1864 The Maine Woods
1865 Cape Cod
1866 A Yankee in Canada

Additional Information
All you've ever wanted to know about Thoreau:
http://www.transcendentalists.com/1thorea.html

Sources:

"Thoreau, Henry David" The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, July 2001. www.bartleby.com/65/.

Witherell, Elizabeth Hall. "Life and Times of Henry D. Thoreau." August 24, 1999. http://libws66.lib.niu.edu/thoreau/bexhibit.htm